1. The FBI Dossier on Trump is unverifiable. It wouldn’t hold up in court.

2. Unverifiable is not the same as untrue.

3. This is not the same as a Birther movement. That was a conspiracy theory created by Trump to discredit O. This information is coming from the highest intelligence agencies in our nation and from a spy in Great Britain. That’s not made up. That’s not conspiracy. That’s factual.

4. Most investigative stories start out in similar fashions. A cop tells a reporter that there is corruption going on in City Hall. He provides a few details. She begins to do the work of investigating whether it can be substantiated or not.

5. It is the lousy reporter who fails to do everything in their power to turn over every rock to find the corruption the cop testified to. (Many of my best news stories started out just like this).

6. How many of you think every cop is crooked and brutalizes people? Right. Not a one of you. By the same token, not every Legislator is crooked. Are there some, perhaps too many? Yes. But there are plenty of good Senators and Congressmen/women out there who have seen the same thing you have seen and are equally nauseated and sick and deeply troubled by this.

7. Putin’s goal, as Obama has stated numerous times, is to create unstability in our government. That happens when we take an “us” & “them: approach to each other, to our government. Congress has children and grandchildren too. They have loved ones. They don’t want to be nuked anymore than you or I do. Not even Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan.

8. We don’t get to give up. That defeatism will make our government unstable. We must get engaged. I know you feel like calling Congress doesn’t count but it does. It really does. They listen to you. Look at the Ethics Commission. How they intended to do away with that and WE THE PEOPLE stopped them. Look at the Affordable Care Act, how they planned to abolish it, but now are more prone to think they have to replace it immediately. That’s because WE THE PEOPLE spoke up. If the People didn’t take to the streets during the Vietnam War, we’d have a 100,000 names on that Wall. Our voice matters.

9. Action Plan: You call your Legislators and tell them you expect them to investigate this and to hold Trump accountable. That we can’t have a president who is at risk of being blackmailed or is beholden to Russia. He will have to be sworn in. Our laws don’t allow for anything else. But they can begin impeachment proceedings immediately. Tell them you expect that.

10. This is where integrity matters. Trump’s best supporters know that he lies constantly. So now, when the critical moments hit, this is where his integrity matters and he has none. He has lied so much to so many that no one believes him when he says that he didn’t do these things. Truth will always find you out because there are always honest people who can’t be bought off.

Action: Call Senators today. Tell them that now more than ever you are concerned about Rex Tillerson’s association with Russia. Tell them to not confirm Tillerson. Tell them that Russia is threatening the fabric of our social contract. No to Tillerson. Trump must be impeached. 202.224.3121. Feel free to copy and share.

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7 Comments

That trump so admires Putin's style should nauseate anyone. This is a man who has turned his Duma (name is a play on the verb dumat', "to think', quite an irony!!)) into an absolute sham. This is a man who murders his political opponents. That Trump admires and openly emulates tells us a great deal about Trump. What he refuses to reveal about his dealings and entanglements disqualifies him as president and makes a mockery of the oath of office. Trump will see that not as a sobering responsibility. He will see it as a license to remake as much of our country as possible in his own image.

So true - it is critical to keep up the pressure each and every day. Listening to the press conference this morning I couldn't help but notice that he carefully avoided personally and specifically denying the charges in the dossier. He started by having his minions get up and deny everything. Then later, when asked a direct question about it, he said "who would believe that?" and went off on a monologue about cameras in hotel rooms. He never said "I didn't do any of those things that I am accused of". He never directly answered the questions about whether he or any of his staff had dealings with Russia during the campaign or before it. He knows he can't be impeached for engaging in "salacious" activities with Russian prostitutes, he can really only be impeached if he's caught lying about it. I have no doubt he was well-coached about those points before the press conference.

No, the tapes won't be coming soon. They might come out two or three years after Putin invades the Baltic republics and Trump refuses to defend them saying they "really should be under Russian protection after all. And that there was no need to honor a commitment to NATO because NATO was just a bunch of stuffy old Europeans who sit around and have a good time. So sad, you know." That way, Putin can have his way and rub our noses in the idiocy of our ever having allowed Trump to be a nominee in the first place. Putin has plans for Trump.

I believe that you are right about Putin's plan. I don't think Trump is going to be president long though. I think he will be impeached rather quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if Pence isn't already at working planning a Brutus moment with GOP leaders already.

Hmmmm. I wish I shared your confidence in GOP "leaders". Exactly who would they be? Paul Ryan? Mitch McConnell? Lindsay Graham? Judging by the way Mr. McConnell stepped up by watering down the requirements for cabinet picks to have ethics assessments completed before their confirmation hearings, I see nothing but submission from GOP leaders. I cannot name one who has the character of Colin Powell, but he is not in the government, unfortunately. I expect Vice-President Pence to be a completely impotent figurehead whose only role is to occasionally sit as President of the Senate when needed for tie-breaker votes. The real work of being Vice-President (and much of the work of President) may well be done by Vice-President (non-elect) Kushner. I try to imagine what the next four years might be like by trying to apply Trump's personality to the question. That frightens and sickens me, but I know it will delight perhaps 40% of America--including significant blocks of military veterans and active military alike. I find it difficult to believe that the 40% would ever allow Trump to be impeached without engaging in open armed revolt. After all, my sense is that most not only have no faith in government but actually despise it. They have fully internalized Reagan's irresponsible proclamation that "government IS the problem." [That statement had a specific context now lost to most of us. But because RR said it, it's taken as gold standard. So anarchy would be better???] And, as I have said before, that firm 40% of America owns perhaps 90-95% of all the guns and ammunition in the country, an arsenal that is growing daily.